Chances are that I could plug these elements into an AI tool and generate a blog post. Instead, I am going to leave it to you — not to hand it off to AI, but to assemble it yourself.
1) “To grow again craft is going to have to find incremental opportunities, that’s in terms of both the beers that people make and the occasions customers are looking for in general,” Brewers Association chief economist Bart Watson said during an online press conference following the release of the BA’s annual Craft Beer Production Report.
2) Answering a question about what’s ahead, he said, “Craft is going to have to, as it always has done, reinvent itself for the next generation of drinkers . . . (brewers) will have to find ways to welcome new people into the category.”
3) In 1950, the 10 largest brewing companies in the United State produced 38% of beer. In 1960, that had grown to 52%. In 1970, they made 69%, and in 1980 93%.
4) Twenty years ago the 50 top domestics craft brewing companies produced 78% of (BA-defined) craft beer. Ten years ago, the top 50 brewed 70%. In 2021 (the 2022 figures are still being calculated) that was down to 50%.
5) Stubborn German Brewing in Waterloo, Illinois, population 11,062, is one of those 9,000-plus not-top-50 breweries. They brewed 430 barrels in 2021. They are one of two breweries located on the town square, directly across from the Monroe County Courthouse. It is about a 25-mile drive to Anheuser-Busch’s flagship brewery in St. Louis. Here is a Facebook post from earlier in the week (click to expand).